


Antivenom

by onereyofstarlight



Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Angst, Gen, Spiders, Whump, episode rewrite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-04
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:01:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22554454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onereyofstarlight/pseuds/onereyofstarlight
Summary: Venom – but Virgil gets poisoned instead. And I change the entire rescue scenario and line-up because no one can stop me. Kind of a loose episode tag so don't read if you haven't seen 3x23!
Comments: 16
Kudos: 39





	1. Chapter 1

“Do you think they’ll stop soon?” asked Gordon, throwing a ball into the air and catching it. “Seems like all they’ve done since the Mechanic got here is argue.”

“Scott’s worried,” replied Virgil, his eyes tracking the ball as he lounged. “He doesn’t know who to trust anymore now that we have confirmation there’s a spy in the GDF. And this is important.”

“It’s important to all of us, not just Scott,” said Kayo, folding her arms across her chest. “He seems to think the rest of us don’t understand what he’s going through.”

“Well, do we?” asked Gordon. “I mean don’t get me wrong, this is about rescuing _Dad_ , but I don’t know we can say we know exactly what’s been going through his head.”

“He’s got some hope now,” said Virgil quietly. “He’s having to deal with a lot of mixed emotions that he couldn’t before.”

“He still doesn’t have to take it out on the Mechanic,” grumbled Kayo. “He’s not even grateful for the risk he’s taking being here.”

A beep interrupted their conversation and the blue glow of John’s hologram shone bright in the centre of the room.

“International Rescue, we have a situation.”

“Finally,” said Gordon, springing up from his chair. “What’s going on, John?”

“An entomologist called Dr Furnier has been studying arachnids in the Amazon rainforest. He was set to spend three months out there, but the canopy platform where he’s made his base has partially collapsed and he’s trapped sixty feet in the air. The rainforest is too dense for any of our ships, so if you need to get on the ground you’ll want to configure some–”

“Pods. F.A.B. John,” finished Virgil, already moving to his station. “Gordon, Kayo, suit up, I’ll meet you in Thunderbird Two.”

“And not a moment too soon,” muttered Gordon to Kayo under his breath, as the shouting from below ticked up another notch.

***

Virgil and Kayo belayed down into the rainforest canopy at the coordinates John had forwarded to them before signing off to assist Alan on a rescue of his own. Virgil grimaced as the platform came into view, some of the branches it had been strapped to had snapped, leaving the sole occupant dangling at a 30° angle. He had managed to attach a safety line to two trees, which were bending alarmingly in the breeze, and had clipped his belt around the wire as he braced himself against the platform.

“Dr Furnier? We’re International Rescue, here to assist,” he called to the man. “Are you hurt in any way?”

“Just my nerves,” Furnier replied with a weak smile. “This wasn’t the nicest wake-up call this morning.”

“Well, keep on staying calm and we’ll have you out of there in no time.” Virgil said, then tapped on his comm. “Kayo, can you talk to him, make sure he doesn’t start going into shock? His adrenaline is probably about to crash now that we’re here. Keep her steady Gords, we’ll try to attach the platform to Thunderbird Two so we can lift it safely up. If you can get those V-Ti cables down to me, I’ll attach them.”

“F.A.B.,” they chorused together. Virgil nodded in approval as the two moved quickly and efficiently.

“So, what were you studying Dr Furnier?” asked Kayo.

“Bird-eating spiders,” the man said, his face lighting up at the question. “Oh, they’re not dangerous,” he hurriedly explained. “Not unless you’re a bird anyway. But people always seem to be frightened of the bigger ones.”

“It’s probably the hairy legs,” said Kayo with a wicked grin.

“You’re not scared of spiders, are you?” Furnier asked anxiously.

“Not at all,” she assured him. “What else can you tell me about them?”

He beamed at her, and Virgil chuckled as he blocked their conversation out, the thick cables swinging his way. He quickly set to work.

Attaching the cables proved to be no trouble at all. The platform had small, metal loops at each of its sides so that a thick rope could be threaded through and tied securely around the nearby trees. With two of the sides already unattached it was a simple matter to hook the cables through and stabilise the platform. They all heaved a sigh of relief as the platform righted itself and the creaking and groaning of the trees died away as the cables instead bore its weight.

“Right, Gordon? Pull us up,” called Virgil into his comm.

“No can do Virg,” came his brother’s tense reply.

“What? Why not?”

“The canopy is too thick,” said Kayo, her eyes widening with realisation. “There’s no safe way to navigate through it.”

“Bingo,” came Gordon’s cheery voice. “How much cable do we have Virgil?”

“Four hundred feet,” he said immediately.

“Plenty then,” said Gordon. There was a short silence before his voice crackled through the comm once more. “Tell you what, I’ll lower you to the forest floor and pick you up in the Dragonfly. Sound good?”

“F.A.B. Gordon,” said Virgil. “Pull my line up, I’m on the platform now.”

The dense cover of trees masked the sound of mechanical whirring Virgil was familiar with, and so he sat back and let the sounds of the rainforest wash over him. Kayo’s low voice still hummed in the background, but mostly he took in the call of birds as they flew overhead, the chirping of insects breaking the silence. Virgil could feel his body relaxing as they continued to descend, the light slowly giving way to the shadows of the understory. It had been weeks, months even, since he’d gotten time to immerse himself in the natural world he loved and he relished this moment of peace.

He could feel a slight itch on his left hand as he pushed aside a giant leaf the size of his torso, trying to prevent it from getting in his eyes. Idly, he scratched at it through the thick material, as he swung his legs around to listen in on Kayo and Furnier’s conversation.

A sudden, searing pain blossomed in his hand and he gasped in shock.

“Virgil?” asked Kayo, frowning as she looked over at him.

The pain was spreading quickly, radiating white-hot within his skin and it was all Virgil could do to stay upright. Distantly, he could hear Kayo barking into her comm, could feel the sudden jolt as the platform abruptly came to a stop.

“Virgil,” Kayo said sharply. “ _Virgil_!”

“’M here,” he said. Her hand was cool on his face and he focused on the sensation, trying to bring awareness back to his body. Her eyes were wide beneath her creased forehead and he tried to reassure her, mumbling slurred words of comfort that fell out of his mouth with jumbled syllables and cut-off endings.

“Where did the pain start?” asked Furnier, his voice now low and assured as he knelt with a first aid kit open beside him.

Virgil shrugged his left shoulder and tried to wave his left hand at them. He hissed as the action intensified the pain, but Furnier got the message and began to strip the glove away from his arm. He was wearing gloves of his own, Virgil absently noted and then gasped as his throbbing hand was exposed to the warm, humid air around them. Furnier inhaled sharply as the slightly squashed arachnid made its appearance.

“Not good news, I take it?” said Kayo in a low voice.

“That’s a Brazilian wandering spider,” said Furnier in horror. “A banana spider.”

“A _what_?” asked Virgil, stifling a hysterical laugh. “I’ve been bitten by a banana?”

“No,” said Furnier, sorrowfully. “It’s the most venomous spider in the world. And I’m afraid I can see my antivenom directly below us. It must have fallen with my other gear this morning.”

Virgil looked over the edge of the platform, pushing back the wave of nausea that erupted in his stomach at the sight. The light level was so low, he was surprised Furnier could see anything, but then he fumbled at his shoulder and threw his light cannon on. A vial glinted in the sudden illumination, shards of glass surrounding it and contents soaked into the forest floor.

“Well, that sucks,” he said with a gasp, hauling himself backwards. Kayo guided him to the platform floor, laying him down carefully. The effort needed for even simple movements was increasing rapidly, and he panted with exertion as Kayo gently wiped the sweat out of his eyes. “Sorry to ruin everyone’s day, but what now?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A swear is present in this chapter. Just for transparency :D

“You don’t trust me,” shouted the Mechanic, his voice reverberating around the hangar.

“Why should I,” shouted Scott back at him, equally incensed. “You’ve tried to kill my brothers, you’ve tried to kill _me_.”

“I wasn’t in control.”

“You might not be in control now.”

“If you were so concerned about my threat to your organisation, why release me from the Hex in the first place?” demanded the Mechanic, shoving past Scott.

Scott stepped up into the Mechanic’s space immediately, not content to let the matter lie. “What choice did we have? For all I know, you could be manipulating that scenario as well.”

“I was _safe_ ,” insisted the Mechanic. “Before your heroic organisation tried to help themselves under the guise of helping me.”

“Oh believe me, there was never meant to be any pretence about us helping you,” said Scott scornfully. “We needed you. But now I’m not so sure. How do I know you can really do what you say you can?”

“You m-might trust me,” interrupted Brains’ carefully controlled voice. He stood at the base of the stairs that led up to where he and the Mechanic had been working, equal parts worried and determined. “Scott, you need to cool off and leave. If you c-can’t trust the Mechanic, I should hope that our time together has been sufficient evidence of m…my good judgement.”

He held out a hand to Scott, gently tugging him down the stairs. “I d-don’t care if you trust the Mechanic,” he said firmly. “You and I b-both know that we were getting nowhere b-before. With his help, we can do this. We can’t t-tu… We can’t turn on each other because your fears are bigger than your faith.”

“I know Brains,” said Scott, running his hands through his hair. “I’m sorry.”

Brains patted his shoulder. “I understand. Now please, g-go away.”

They both jumped as a siren burst into life in the hangar, announcing its presence with a wail.

“What is that noise?” bellowed the Mechanic, but both Scott and Brains ignored him, jogging over to the comm station set at on the far wall.

“Comm link established, report,” barked Scott at the holographic image that popped up in front of them.

“Scott, it’s Virgil,” said Gordon, looking terrified. “Scott, he’s hurt, I’m up in Two, I’m about to go get him, bring him up to the medbay, but Scott it’s serious, it’s really bad.”

“How bad is bad?” asked Scott looking over at Brains in horror. Visions of lost limbs and crushed spines flew through his mind, memories of the long months they’d just spent in hospital with Gordon stretching out into eternity with the knowledge that once again, he’d sent a brother into danger. He felt cold, knowing just what his father would have to say about that.

“He’s been bitten by a spider. They don’t have the antivenom. The nearest outpost has sent out their last supply, but the drone has gotten delayed.”

“A spider?” Scott said. He wanted to laugh, but the sick feeling in his stomach wouldn’t let him forget the way Gordon was sitting, hunched over, lips downturned and eyes anxious.

“The good doctor says it’s the most venomous spider in the world. Never does anything by halves, does he?”

“What are you saying to me, Gordon?” demanded Scott.

Gordon paused for a moment and took a steadying breath. “Scott, he could die.” His eyes flicked over to look at another screen. “I have to go now. Kayo’s gone to fetch the drone. I’ll keep you updated.”

The comm link died.

“F.A.B.,” whispered Scott.

“Scott?” said Brains, uncertainly resting a hand on his arm.

Scott stood for a moment, swaying as the impact of what he had just heard hit him.

“Scott, you should sit down,” said Brains, worriedly.

His skin felt far too hot to accommodate the rush of ice flooding his bloodstream. He couldn’t see anything, except for an image of his brother dying in a far off country, abandoned and alone, without him.

“Clear the hangar, Brains,” said a voice, and Scott realised with a start it was his. It was steady and cold, and betrayed none of the swirling emotions the were bottled inside him. He seized the strength that voice gave him, slipping into command as easily as breathing.

“Scott, I really don’t think that–”

“I said, clear the hangar. Or roast, I don’t care which,” spat Scott.

Brains’ eyes widened. “W-where are you going?”

“Where, the _fuck_ , do you think I’m going, Brains?” he shouted, turning suddenly on the smaller man. “I’m going to Virgil, because if I’m so _useless_ here, I might as well be doing something to try help my brother who is apparently out there dying, _just like Dad_.”

Brains said nothing, standing frozen and stricken in front of him. Scott immediately felt a twinge of regret, but shoved it aside. Brains wasn’t dying, he had the time to wait for an apology.

“We’re clearing the hangar, Scott,” he said quietly. “Shall I inform Mrs Tracy of Virgil’s condition?”

It was Scott’s turn to freeze. _Grandma_. He didn’t know what to say, was almost pathetically grateful it would be Brains to inform her of what was going on. Telling Grandma would make the whole situation too real, would ensure he spent the afternoon huddled in her embrace, too much of a coward to face another brother’s pain.

“Tell her there’s been a complication,” he said quietly. “She’ll know I’ve flown out, but don’t let her know how bad it is unless there’s nothing more that we can do.” _Unless he dies_. The unspoken words lay heavy between them.

“F.A.B. Scott,” said Brains quietly. He turned and hurried away, calling out to the Mechanic as he went. The Mechanic scowled at Scott as he shoved his way past him.

“Another delay,” he said sarcastically. “One would think you didn’t want to rescue your father.”

Scott snarled in response and watched the two engineers leave with narrowed eyes. _If he gets to live_ , he thought, _then Virgil can’t die_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!!


	3. Chapter 3

They’d managed to transfer Virgil to the medbay forty-five minutes after the initial bite. Gordon had been hyper-aware of any movement on his skin, freezing several times as his brain imagined the prickle of spiders walking up and down his back, his arms, his legs. Even in the medbay, Gordon could feel them crawling over his skin and he shuddered. Gordon sat by his side, holding his hand and squeezing it every couple of minutes to check his brother’s responsiveness. His other arm was in sling, the initial bandage replaced with a broad pressure bandage that was hopefully slowing the spread of the poison.

“How’s he doing?” asked Furnier, who Gordon noticed had discarded his tinfoil blanket. Well, bully for him, he had higher priority patients now.

“He’s in a lot of pain,” he said, staring at determinedly at Virgil’s face. “His heart rate is still at 135 bpm and last I checked, his LogMAR vision acuity was at 0.80.”

His heart clenched as Virgil let out another gasping moan beside him.

“I’m still here, Virg,” he whispered, squeezing the hand again. He could feel the faint pressure of Virgil’s response and breathed slightly easier for it.

“That’s not good then?”

“Gotta be real honest, Doc, it’s not amazing.”

Furnier nodded, looking troubled. “I’m sorry I couldn’t do more,” he said quietly. “After all you did for me too.”

“Hey, no,” said Gordon in a steady voice. He looked up at Furnier, who looked almost sick with anxiety. “We do this job eyes open, we know the risks. I know no matter what happens, Virgil would be so happy that you’re safe.”

Gordon always found it hard to talk to people about the reality of their job. He didn’t thrive on the danger and adrenaline like Scott did, couldn’t see every situation as a challenge like Virgil. People didn’t want to hear about the sadness, the terror, and the sacrifice that came with the life he had chosen, only the tales of courage and adventure escaping death with a laugh on his face. Gordon was struggling to tell those stories now, his own near-death experience too fresh in his mind and in his body to charm people as he used to. And now, even worse, he knew exactly what it felt on the other side, to watch a brother slowly slipping away, powerless to prevent his pain.

“Will he be alright?”

Gordon shrugged helplessly and bent down to clean the drool that was sliding past his brother’s chin. His eyes were screwed up tightly as he fought through another wave of pain.

“Where is it now, Virg?”

“Still my arm,” he gasped. “Feels kind of tight too.” Gordon could see the way his hand was swelling beneath the bandages and grimly added another check to the list of symptoms he had pulled up next to him.

“He’s still only presenting local symptoms, that’s one good thing. He’s heavy, that’s another,” he said, poking Virgil in the shoulder. He yelped as Virgil screwed up his face and his hand was suddenly caught in a vice grip. “Shut up Virg, you know it’s true.”

“Anyway,” he said, turning back to Furnier. “His mass is working in his favour. It would take more of the venom to kill him than it would any of the rest of us. If that thing had bitten me, I’d probably be dead already.”

“We need the antivenom then?”

“The antivenom will take care of the symptoms in a much shorter time than his body can. It can bind with the venom, stop it from messing with his cells and putting his body so much stress that it can’t repair itself. We need that antivenom all right.”

“She’ll get there right?”

“Course she will,” said Gordon softly, blinking back tears as he looked over at the screen showing Kayo’s position. “And anyway, she’s not alone.” A new signal had popped up, hovering above the Dragonfly, a signal that brought a wistful smile to Gordon’s face. Although he was grateful Kayo had help in her task, he just wanted his big brother to be here.

***

Kayo heard Scott before she saw him and chewed on her lip as she looked up anxiously at the sky. Gordon had given her a heads up that Scott was on his way, and she wasn’t surprised that he had decided to help her instead of rushing to Virgil’s side. It was the same reason that she had volunteered to leave the group, the desperate need to do something, anything, of significance to help the situation at hand. Scott needed to help, was driven into action by the fear of tragedy. He wouldn’t bear to face his brothers with no solution to their cry for help. And so Scott was here.

She unlocked the exterior doors to the Dragonfly and Scott flew inside. She didn’t go back to meet him, not wanting to see where Virgil had lain, arm muscles beginning to spasm and sweat pouring down his face as the venom worked its way through his system, attacking his nerve endings. More terrifying was the way he had hardly uttered a sound, holding in his cries as best he could in an effort to spare her and Gordon the worry. It hadn’t worked.

“Good to see you Scott,” she said when he entered the cockpit, laying his jetpack to one side.

“How is he?”

Kayo shook her head. “We have to move fast.”

“Is there any chance he’ll make it without the antivenom?”

Kayo hesitated. Scott’s voice was small, but more than that he looked small too. She had never known Scott as a child before, but suddenly she could picture the way he must had approached his Dad, his Mom even, to ask them about the scary monsters in the world. She wondered if that had been where he’d first learnt to fight them.

“It’s bad enough that he needs the antivenom,” she said eventually. “That already makes this a medical emergency. But even without it, there’d be a small chance. The problem is we don’t know how much venom was injected into his bloodstream. And we don’t know how his body will react in the long run.” She turned back to hunting for the little red drone Dr Furnier had described to her. “We’ll find it.”

They were both silent as they combed the rainforest, edging closer and closer to the last known coordinates.

“Well, spiders might top my ‘Least Favourite Bugs’ list now,” said Kayo, with a half-smile.

“Yeah, mine too,” said Scott fervently. “Wait, what was on top before?”

“I’ll never tell,” said Kayo with a shudder.

“Seriously?” said Scott, looking at her frankly. “You’re really scared by bugs?”

“Not scared just… creeped out. And it’s not all of them.”

“Kayo I’ve seen you jump out of aeroplanes and take down someone built like a freight train running straight towards you like it was nothing.”

“Virgil’s ticklish, that doesn’t count.”

At the mention of Virgil’s name, Scott fell silent and she cursed herself internally.

“He’ll be okay Scott,” she said quietly, laying a hand on his shoulder.

“You don’t know that, what if he’s not?” he said desperately. Kayo glanced over and at the sight of his glistening eyes, bit back her immediate reply.

“What if…” he said softly. “What if after everything, we get Dad back and I have to tell him that Virgil was…. That he…”

Scott straightened in his chair, the tears in his eyes turning to ice. “I’m responsible for all of them, Kayo. I have to be the one to look Dad in the eye and tell him I kept them safe. No matter the cost.”

Kayo said nothing, only checked the coordinates displayed on the map between them.

“This is it,” she said. “It should be around here.”

Scott made no reply, striding from the cockpit without a backwards glance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!!


	4. Chapter 4

“What colour is it?” called Scott, peering through the darkness.

“Red,” replied Kayo. She sounded close by, but in the dense scrub layer, she was near invisible.

“How are we ever going to find it?” grumbled Scott, tugging at another vine that had wrapped itself around his foot. “Doesn’t this thing have some sort of homing beacon?”

“Scott, that’s it!” The rustling to his right stopped as Kayo stood still, fiddling with something on her comm. “Over here,” she called as she sprinted ahead.

Scott cursed as he tripped and crashed his way through the jungle, but it wasn’t long before the rainforest began to thin and he could see light ahead. A fallen tree created a gap in the canopy above and Scott squinted in the sudden brightness of the sun.

“Up there,” he called suddenly, pointing up at the vines. The drone struggled feebly in one place, well and truly tangled, and Scott and Kayo moved as one to climb the tree.

“Watch out for snakes,” warned Kayo, but Scott could hardly hear her. All that mattered was reaching the drone and his heart beat loudly in his ears as he fixed his eyes on the mechanical prize above them.

They climbed steadily, pausing only to help each other in the difficult ascent. Muscle aches meant nothing, scratches against the rough bark meant nothing in comparison to reaching that drone.

It sensed them before they could grab it.

“Stay still,” muttered Kayo, as she and Scott wrestled with the drone. Even trapped in the vines, it was dodging their every attempt to retrieve the antivenom.

“We’re not thieving you, you stupid machine,” said Scott. “Ow!”

He reeled back as one of the vines snapped and the drone surged forwards. His hand flew up unbidden and he felt rather than saw the way the antivenom was knocked from the drone’s mounted carrier frame.

He could hear Kayo’s gasp as he desperately scrabbled at the vial, falling upside down in the attempt, but he could do little more than watch as the glass glinted in the sun, falling down, down, down towards the ground and was finally swept away by a stream.

“No,” he whispered. And then he screamed, anger and terror and pain falling from his lips – a flood of battered emotions that had been building for the last eight months, that had spiked with the words Gordon had delivered a mere two hours ago,. He could see Virgil, Gordon, _his dad_ , staring at him with cold, dead expressions of accusation on their faces. He would have to tell Grandma and Brains. God, did John and Alan even _know_ that their brother was fighting for his life in the Amazon rainforest? What would they say when they found out that there had been a chance, that Scott had destroyed it with his own hands?

Kayo was speaking hurriedly on the comm, and distantly he could see Gordon’s pale face. For a moment, their eyes met and Gordon’s lips thinned as a determined look settled over him. That was enough for Scott, the sight of a little brother who hadn’t yet given up. So long as one of them believed, Scott could live on borrowed hope from his brothers a little while longer. He snapped back to command mode.

“Kayo, we’re going after it. We didn’t see it break, we just need to follow the river. Gordon, keep him stable.”

“I –”

“Do as I say,” his voice thundered. “We’re getting that vial and Virgil will be fine. Don’t think of anything else.”

“I was going to say I will,” snapped Gordon. “Just get a move on, you’re wasting time.”

***

It wasn’t good news, Virgil could immediately see that. A fresh wave of pain washed over him that had nothing to do with the venom coursing through his bloodstream. It tore at his heart to watch Gordon drop his head in his hands, swearing viciously under his breath at Scott’s parting news.

His vision was still blurry but he could still see enough to know what caused the resounding clang that reverberated through the medbay.

“Hey,” he gasped through another spike in pain as his body automatically winced in response. “Leave Two out of this, she hasn’t done anything to you.”

“She hasn’t done anything to help either,” shot Gordon back at him.

“Don’t say that,” he said, stretching his good hand out to beckon Gordon over. “She does a lot of good. ‘Ts not her fault I’m like this.”

Gordon fell into the seat next to him, hand automatically reaching for his. Before Gordon could do anything else, Virgil gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, empirical evidence that despite everything he was still here with his brother.

“Yeah,” said Gordon quietly. “Yeah I know.”

Virgil groaned suddenly, as a new, darker pain made itself known, rearing off the stretcher and tugging at the IV line in his arm. Gordon thrust his arm underneath his head to soften the blow as he fell backwards again.

“Sorry,” he panted. “It’s moved.”

“Where?”

“Radiating, left side. And stomach.”

Virgil could feel the way his brother’s body tensed at his words and for the first time, he felt a slither of fear and doubt creeping into his heart.

“Doc?” Gordon called softly, not breaking eye contact with Virgil.

“Yes, yes?” Furnier rushed to his side, nearly tripping in his eagerness to be of assistance.

“There’s a kitchenette three doors down where you could make a drink, get some food.”

“Oh,” said Furnier, furrowing his brow. “That’s a nice thought, but quite unnecessary.”

“Dr Furnier,” Gordon said, deciding the time for tact was well gone. I’m not asking. I need a moment with my brother. It’s on the left, follow the yellow line on the floor.”

“Oh, of course,” he said, blushing bright enough that even Virgil could see it clearly on his skin, and he turned quickly and left the small room.

“Gordon,” he began, but his brother was already pulling away from him.

“Don’t, Virgil,” he warned. “I don’t want to hear it.”

“You don’t even know what I have to say.”

“I’m not interested in what you’re going to say. You think I can’t see it?”

“Gordon, I don’t want to fight.”

“That’s the problem,” shouted Gordon, turning back towards him. “You think I don’t know what it looks like when you give up?”

“I haven’t,” protested Virgil. He moaned as his stomach spasmed in pain again. He tried to focus on Gordon beyond the pain, but his brother swam in and out of his vision as his symptoms demanded to be acknowledged.

“Gords, I’m scared,” he choked out. He couldn’t see, vision blurred by the toxin and his tears, but he felt the gentle way Gordon rested his hand on his head. He felt awful, sweaty and gross and in more pain than he could remember. And he was tired. He knew his limits well, he tested them every day. He knew what the bone-deep exhaustion under all the pain meant and he was terrified of what came next. He’d never pictured dying in his ‘bird before.

Surprisingly, Gordon was quiet as he listened to the shallow breathing that Virgil was snatching between pained moans. He lifted Virgil’s head and shoulders and rested him back down on the numerous folded towels that would help keep his airways open, trying to be prepared for the next stage of envenomation where his respiratory system would begin to fail.

His hands were steady as he worked but Virgil could feel the slight tremor in his fingers as he brushed his slick hair back off his face.

“I’m scared too, Virg,” he finally said in a low voice. “It’s okay to be scared.”

Virgil said nothing, too exhausted to refute him.

The comm beeped interrupting them and Gordon looked at his wrist.

“We got it,” panted Scott. “We got it, we’re on our way.”

Virgil’s heart leapt and he closed his eyes to rest in the relief that washed over him at those words. Gordon said something, his voice light like Virgil hadn’t heard since that morning. He felt a rush of homesickness at the thought of their living room, his family, the island. Gordon said something again, more urgently this time and Virgil realised he couldn’t grasp the meaning of the sound. His breath caught in his lungs and he became aware that his heart wasn’t leaping, it was racing.

“Gords,” he gasped, struggling to sit upright, trying to tell Gordon that he couldn’t _breathe_. His breath was short and sharp, his muscles spasming too quickly to allow him to fill his lungs. Faintly, he could hear Gordon calling Furnier back as he bent over to lift his jaw into the mask around his face and black spots expanded in his vision and he fell into unconsciousness.

Gordon swore, just as Furnier entered the room.

“Ever ventilated someone before?” asked Gordon, grimly.

“Gordon, what’s going on?” demanded Scott from the comm.

“Just get here, _now_ ,” snapped Gordon. “Don’t distract me.”

He turned back to Furnier.

“Okay, your job is to squeeze this bag, on my mark. It will reinflate when you let it go so you need to be steady. Got it?”

Furnier nodded, eyes wide. His gaze kept slipping back to Virgil’s face, the pallor of his skin taking on a greyish tint as his body struggled to circulate oxygen.

Gordon carefully checked the seal around the mask and nodded to Furnier.

“Now,” he said, watching the rise of Virgil’s chest. “And stop.”

They worked together in silence and Gordon kept an eye on the time with trepidation, knowing that they couldn’t keep ventilating Virgil forever, not without consequences.

The door banged open and Furnier jumped beside him.

“Kayo, Scott, take over,” he barked with barely a glance upwards.

They moved quickly, Kayo handing him the antivenom as she took his place at the crown of the stretcher. Furnier stumbled backwards in his hurry to get out of the way.

Gordon worked quickly, washing his hands and measuring out the appropriate initial dose. He reached into one of the nearby cupboards and picked up an EpiPen and lay it on the side table within easy reach.

“If you have an allergic reaction after all this?” he said, leaning down to Virgil. “I will personally dig you up so I can murder you.”

With that, he took in a shaky breath and administered the antivenom.

There was a moment of silence as the room collectively held their breath.

Virgil relaxed on the stretcher as the antivenom began to work throughout his body.

“He’s breathing,” said Gordon quietly, looking across at Scott and Kayo.

Kayo let out a sob and gathered him into a hug. The two shrieked together as they jumped together, the tension of the moment crashing around them, and Gordon laughed hysterically as he cried.

“Okay,” he said swiping at his eyes with his sleeve. “I gotta watch him, you and Scott need to get us to the nearest hospital. And man, we gotta fund some antivenom development or something, I don’t want to ever hear of a place running out again.”

“Agreed,” said Kayo fervently. “He’s really going to be alright, isn’t he?”

“Yeah,” said Gordon with a grin. “The IV will keep supplying him with antivenom and his symptoms should disappear by the time we get to the hospital. But I want him checked over all the same.”

“F.A.B. Gordon,” she said with a brilliant grin. She turned back to Scott and Gordon watched as the smile faded away.

“Scott?”

Gordon stepped forward, peering at Scott in concern. He was frozen at Virgil’s side, scarcely breath as he watched the rise and fall of Virgil’s chest. As they watched, a tear fell down his cheek and suddenly he grabbed Gordon around the waist and was clutching at him while he cried.

“Change in plans,” said Gordon, softly gathering Scott together. “Kayo, you can fly Two solo right?”

“Of course I can,” she said, her eyebrows creased in concern. “We’ll get going in five.”

She tugged Furnier away from the scene, leaving the brothers behind.

“Oh Scott,” sighed Gordon. “He’s going to be okay.”

“It was too close Gordo,” came Scott’s whispered words. “It’s always just too damn close.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!!!


	5. Epilogue

Virgil spent a total of sixteen hours in the hospital where Kayo and Gordon had landed. He’d been poked and prodded by any number of specialists in that time, taking great care to ensure the antivenom had done its job and that he wasn’t about to deteriorate the second he walked out of their doors. He’d been lectured extensively about the signs of serum sickness which could develop at any point in time over the next two weeks and given strict instructions to stay on a reduced workload until the danger had passed. Scott had seized the literature the doctors had liberally handed out and Virgil suspected he had forwarded a copy to everyone in the family.

Gordon and Kayo had left in Two, volunteering to drop Dr Furnier off as soon as he had been cleared in the post rescue check-up. Virgil had been semi-conscious when they said their goodbyes, and he had a vague impression of hushed voices and a roar of green outside his window as they left.

But now, Virgil had been cleared to return home and his heart lifted at the sight of Thunderbird One gleaming in the late afternoon sun. Scott hovered as Virgil settled himself in for the journey home, only leaving to prepare for take off when he was certain Virgil was comfortable. Virgil suspected that even then, a few security cameras would be trained on him.

Within half an hour, the auto-pilot had been set and Scott returned to stare at him with anxious eyes.

“I’m fine, Scott,” said Virgil, trying to push away the twinge of irritation he felt at Scott’s insistent proximity. He knew his brother had been scared badly by the whole incident and Gordon had quietly talked to him about how Scott had reacted once he was fully awake, his worry evident even over comms.

“I know,” said Scott, leaning against the doorframe.

“Are we travelling sub-sonic?” asked Virgil, gesturing out the small window at the land passing beneath them.

“Yeah,” said Scott. “I just wanted to be sure you were okay.”

“You realise Kayo hauled ass to the hospital going at least Mach 6, right?”

“That was different,” said Scott with a scowl. “That was an emergency.”

“I just meant I’m not going to break,” said Virgil.

Scott grunted in response. Virgil eyed him carefully, considering his next move. Manipulating Scott into sharing his troubles was never a production to be taken lightly.

“I’m sorry,” said Scott, eventually.

Virgil raised an eyebrow. “Sorry as in a general ‘sorry this happened’ or sorry as in ‘every shit thing that I can’t prevent is my personal responsibility’?”

Scott glared at him. “I should never have sent you out there.”

“You didn’t, John did,” said Virgil with an exasperated look on his face. “And he’s not taking on blame that belongs to a literal spider.”

“You think _John_ sent you out there?”

Virgil’s expression morphed into one of incredulity.

“Who else?”

“It wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for me!”

“How do you figure that?” demanded Virgil. “Explain it to me, Scott, because I’m not seeing the connection here.”

Scott scrubbed at his face and collapsed in the chair next to Virgil, staring past him with awful, haunted eyes.

“It’s just ever since Braman, ever since we found out, it’s been playing over and over in my mind. What I chose to do, what we could have done instead.”

“Scott,” said Virgil, his heart aching. “We couldn’t have known. Dad’s not going to blame you for not acting sooner.”

“No, I know, that’s not… Virgil, that’s not the issue, that was never the issue.” Scott shook his head and let out a hollow laugh. “No, I can’t help thinking about how I was so desperate to keep a piece of Dad alive, to keep his legacy going that I never once stopped to think about how it would affect you all. How it would change me.”

Virgil’s eyes widened, but he stayed silent at his brother’s side.

“Do you really think Dad would have wanted all this? God Virg, I was so eager, I never even thought about any of you.”

“We made our choices too,” said Virgil quietly. “It’s not like you forced us.”

“No? I put Alan in a rocket when he was, what? Fourteen? What fourteen year old is going to say ‘no thanks, I think I’ll do my algebra homework instead’? Come on, not even John would have done that, I practically bribed the kid to start his training.”

“Would you prefer the alternative?” asked Virgil. “All those families with lost loved ones? Do you really think any of us could have sat by knowing we had the machines and the skillset to save them? Do you think Dad could have?”

“No, of course not, it’s just…” Scott dropped his head in his hands. “This used to be so much easier.”

“What was?”

“Letting you all go.”

“What changed?”

“What do you think? Dad’s out there, Virg. He’s out there, for real, and we have a chance at getting him back.”

Scott sighed. “It’s been getting harder for a while though,” he admitted. “It used to be really easy, we were just doing what we’d always done. And then it got harder, because I had to accept the consequences that came with the responsibility of choosing to continue, of choosing to command. I was okay with that because, even after John nearly died, I thought we were nearly invincible. But then the Hood made it all the way to Mateo. And then the Mechanic arrived. And then the Chaos Crew too. Then Gordon lying in a hospital, Alan and Kayo nearly killed trying to secure our ticket to Dad, you all but dying in front of me. Virgil, that was literally yesterday. None of you look so invincible anymore.”

Virgil looked away, staring instead at the small bump on his hand. It was still red and a little inflamed although the pain had long since faded and the swelling was no more. From this side of the emergency, it was hard to believe there had been any kind of narrow escape.

“What will you do now?” he finally asked.

“Now?” Scott was silent for a moment. “Now, I have to account for the choices I made while in command.”

He shook himself and gave Virgil an unconvincing smile.

“How about you, you’re still okay?”

Virgil knew he wouldn’t get anything more from Scott that day. None of the guilt he was feeling for continuing to send them all into danger, none of the fear of their Dad rejecting him for failing at a task no one had ever expected him to complete. He wouldn’t hear any of it. Scott wouldn’t betray how helpless he felt watching Virgil laid out on a stretcher in front of him, just like Virgil wouldn’t tell him how helpless they all felt watching their eldest brother tear himself into pieces over a worn and tattered hope that was struggling to see the light of day.

He gave Scott a tired smile, and rested his head on his brother’s shoulder. “Yeah, I’m okay now.”

It was enough that he was still there.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for @lenle-g on tumblr, but hopefully you all enjoy :DD
> 
> Thank you for reading!!


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